657: Kings of Anglia: The BIG Town talking points after five games, and a slice of KOA history

18:26The players seem to be buying into the tactical side. He's only been with the players for pre-season and then obviously five games into the season. They already seem like they're kind of working more closely together. So, yeah, I think a little bit underwhelmed at the start. More positive now than there was at the start of the season, given how many points we've got, given kind of how he's been coming across and articulating himself and how the team's been performing. But, yeah, I'm still kind of, yeah, Still a little bit of work to please me on that end.

18:57Mark Heath:AJ, it's massive for him, isn't it? Given that he's coming in, he hasn't got any credit in the bank. He's got the wins early doors. Massive for him in terms of his relationship with the fans, I suppose, and getting some momentum built. What have you made of him so far? Yeah, I mean, I think that, again, having spoken to him and interacted at press conferences, he comes across very well, as we've mentioned. and in terms of that relationship with the fans, I think that it definitely was one where he already had work to make up at the start because the reaction, I mean, certainly from a portion of the fan base, and I know that you can talk about social media, noise chambers, echo chambers, whatever, but there was a portion who definitely did not want him and thought it was a poor appointment, let alone a mid-appointment.

19:46So there was work to do there, kind of early doors. I think that being an Ipswich manager, there is a way that you have to hold yourself and a way that you have to deal with your business and go about the work. And I think that he's done that really well. But obviously, proof is in the pudding. Proof is in the results and the performances. And I think that everyone started to get quite positive vibes from preseason. And then coming into the opening day, getting that win, a performance that, look, it wasn't seamless. It wasn't flawless. It wasn't absolutely perfect, but it had all of the core fundamental basics that you'd want of a Premier League winning performance that I really liked.

20:27And that, it just felt got people on side. It meant that then it bought a little bit more time when it came to those games against United and against Liverpool, where anyone needs those moments to learn from and maybe to have things go against you and concede goals to very good players. And then coming off the back of that Palace result again, another crucial one because on another day maybe that could have gone a different way and they lose that and they come into this international break off the back of what would have been four or five consecutive defeats and we're all feeling very very different uh so yeah really important that he's got those results early doors i think it's just bought him a lot of time with the fans uh and kind of just raised the the mood and the morale massively uh going into this kind of three week break whether that's what it was needed elephant in the room aj i think you were one

21:15Mark Heath:one of those people that said you didn't want Gary O 'Neill. I was, yeah. I remember you saying that on this very pod. Yeah, 100%. I said it was actually, I said it on the live pod. It was the post-Keira McKenna departure one where we were all a little bit kind of shocked and all over the place. And I remember literally, I think this might be my closing statement. I said, not Gary O 'Neill. The big reason for that actually was to do with how that Wolves side just exploded. It was a total shambles, fighting each other on the pitch, glasses gait with Mateus Cunha. And I thought coming into the Premier League, which probably would go inside, maybe some bigger personalities and there might be tougher scenarios and situations to handle.

21:55I was really worried about how that would transfer. Look, it's early doors. You don't know how things can happen over the course of the season. Hopefully we're not dealing with on-pitch fights in March, April, May, whatever. But at the moment, I have very much been proven wrong by that. And I'm happy to say that. I'm happy to say that I'm feeling pretty positive about it. Let's see how that goes over the rest of the season and beyond. But yeah, I'm very happy to take that back as we sit here right now on the 28th of September.

22:23Mark Heath:Nice. Rossi, one of the other maybe differences with Kieran McKenna is that Gary has already shown a willingness to make some big calls early doors. I mean, we saw it last game, benching Sherpin. And we're going to talk about the keeper issue itself a bit later on. But has that impressed you, that willingness to kind of, right, I'm going to change things early doors. We clearly know last time out McKenna stuck with Mewrich maybe a little bit too long and took a little bit longer perhaps to make big calls. What have you made of O 'Neill so far?

22:52Ross Halls:Really impressed. He has surprised me a little bit. I didn't really know much about his background prior really. You know, you do your research, but we knew what he did at Wolves and Bournemouth. But from his first press conference, I know there was a few cliche answers and stuff, but it was pretty solid press conference and over time in pre-season. I feel like what I like about him, he's not like, look at me, look at me. I feel like after every game, he's not like front and centre. He's very much straight away over to players, hand over their shoulders and stuff. Some managers, they straight away, they're like at the fans after a win.

23:28Ross Halls:Even like they say, the Hunter Sondland game, he didn't go mental with the win. Even at Palace, he was very much still in the background clapping and stuff like that. I think he surprised a lot of people. The amount of people have come up to me and said, do you know what? Yeah, Gary, he's done a good job so far. I didn't want him in the first place, but now he's really won me over. So I'm really impressed by him and making some big calls early because you've got to do that if something's going wrong. So, yeah, I think he has surprised a lot of us and it's still on the days though. I think he hasn't gone under pressure just yet, has he?

24:00Ross Halls:He's not really had a big moment. I know the Liverpool game was frustrating, main item and stuff, but I'm waiting for that first sort of pressure moment and how he would deal with that. So I'll have to wait and see. But yeah, impressed by him so far.

24:12Mark Heath:One thing I have noted, which may get old quite quickly if Tango on a bit of a losing streak, is his habit of stressing the positives after every game. You know, after every time they've lost, the positives, which is something from the game. There's lots of positives to take. That's great. And I appreciate why he's doing that. Clearly, that's a good tactic. But I think if they go on a bit of a losing run and he's weighing on about positives after every game. I think that might get old quite quickly. Well then, friends, let's move on. Shall we? Best player so far? There have been some standout performances, potentially surprising performances thus far.

24:46Mark Heath:But Dan, who has been your best player playing for It's Rich Town thus far this season? That's not an easy question, I think, because there's no one who's... I wouldn't say there's any standouts, but I'd probably go for Leif Davis, partly because I'm a big Leif Davis fan, but also because he's come on leaps and bounds from a defensive standing point that's kind of obvious based on his performances so far compared to when he was in the Premier League before. And he's also added some goals and assists to his game as well, partly, I think, down to Gary kind of pushing up the pitch a bit more. So I'd probably go for Leif Davis.

25:19There's a couple of other players who I think have done quite well so far, but I think he's probably the standout.

25:24Mark Heath:He should have more goals, if anything, shouldn't he? Yes, a bit wasteful. as well yeah um leaf davis i think is a good shout any any other names to throw into the mix boys i was expecting leaf maybe to be the leader in the clubhouse if any of you got any other ones you want to throw into the mix aj's not yeah i'll take one uh i mean leaf is the obvious answer but huge credit to emerson for the way that he started the season really impressed by him and maybe again similar but different to leaf maybe leaf has raised those expectations because we knew of what what happened last time out where he really struggled found that hard admitted that himself and has done really well to come back looking a totally different player off the back of as well a season in the championship where didn't exactly set the world alight in a bit of a different role and has come into this new season fantastic so credit to him but Emerson is one where obviously record signing a huge amount of excitement but very raw has not had a big kind of goal scoring background, comes in from France where he was rated as a talented youngster but maybe hasn't got that kind of profile of work behind him you see him in pre-season, you're like there's a lot of good stuff but again, very raw in certain areas, Gary O 'Neill mentions then in pre-season he's got work to do to get up to speed, it almost felt like he was coming kind of a little bit behind some of the lads who were there when he first signed at the start of the summer and ever since that Sunderland game, really impressed by him.

26:53And he's developed into the league so well, where, yes, he's used those physical elements to his game. He's got the height. He can stand up strong against defenders. He's kind of got that eye for goal. But the thing that surprised me the most about him was how good he is with the ball at his feet. Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise with a Brazilian striker, but just everything I'd seen from him in preseason, maybe the interpretations I had of him as soon as that Sunderland game happened and also after that, I thought the way that he handled United before he went off injured was really good as hold-up play.

27:23Excellent Liverpool, a harder one, a learning curve for him. Palace, I thought, was excellent. Again, the way that he just moved the ball around. Yeah, I'm really excited by him. If this is kind of the starting point for Emerson, who knows where he could get to because I'm really liking these early days so far.

27:41Mark Heath:And that must have been really hard to say given your mate, Zian, is the guy competing with him. I'm pleased he didn't go with Fleming as the best player so far. Rossi, have you got anyone to throw into the mix? We've had Leif Davis, good shouts. Anything else? Anyone else?

27:53Ross Halls:Davis is on my notes because he's just really impressed me. He's really stepped up. Do you know what? Issa Diop has shown what I felt he was going to bring, some experience. He's had a few moments where I should have done better there. Palace away, one of the goals he didn't do great in. But for me, it's just a Rolls-Royce at the back there. And I think that's what we needed. last time in the Premier League, defensively, I know we've still got two defensive issues this season, but for me, he's just, he's solid. And I think he will be key in that defence. Sasha Lukic as well, adds that experience.

28:31Ross Halls:I think that's what I'm happy about. Once again, going back to Gary O 'Neill and the recruitment. We've recruited so well this time around, bringing in players who've got experience at a level. You know, we've got a World Cup winner in the league squad, which is mad still to say. So, yeah, I think everyone deserves their little moment in the sun in terms of giving them some praise because there's some that have really stood out. But I think it's been a team effort so far and that's what we want, don't we? We want a team to be proud of and they've done that.

28:58Mark Heath:Nice one. I like it, Rossi. Team to be proud of. Stewie, anyone else to throw into the mix? We've had Davis, we've had Emerson, we've had Issa Diop. I know you've spoken about Diop a couple of times. Anyone else you want to point out?

29:08Stuart Watson:That is my top three in the very order that they've come out. Yep. Leif, Emerson, Diop. I think I'd do them in that order. Just to echo Dan's thoughts on Leif Davis, I think he's been exceptional so far. I think he looks a far more well-rounded player than he did two years ago. Leif was very open about the fact how much that season kind of knocked his confidence. He came into it with a lot of talk about, was it, record-breaking 18 assists in the Championship for a defender? Talk of an England call-up. Calvin Phillips, his good mate, comes in and sort of saying, yeah, he's going to get in the England squad.

29:46Stuart Watson:And that was a testing old season, wasn't it? Every week it seemed to be a world-class right winger from Salah to Saka and right the way through. Wasn't perhaps helped by the system at times, leaving him quite exposed. But, you know, I think he's really grown as a person, as a leader. He's become a dad for the first time this summer. His physical data is exceptional. He talks about zone four and five, they call it. And it's basically sort of sprints and recovering from that. And we've talked about it, two goals should have more. And defensively, I think he set the tone opening weekend against Sunderland where he got back and made that brilliant block on Brobby and then gave it the big one to the North Stand afterwards.

30:29Stuart Watson:So, yeah, Leif Davis for me has comfortably been sort of the best player so far.

30:35Mark Heath:his running stats are insane i think i saw someone over the last week or so suggesting he runs like 15k a game um it's not just the distance is it it's it's the it's the speed

30:45Stuart Watson:of it though it's not like the sprint and recovery yeah yeah yeah i'd love to know his resting heart

30:50Mark Heath:rate but it's in the 30s anyway friends that's just me let's move on uh stew biggest surprise i'm going to stick with you what's been the biggest surprise for you so far can be a player can be a moment can be anything you bloody want because you are the doctor uh biggest surprise

31:04Stuart Watson:has been Emerson for the reasons that Alex has already outlined. We're told he's a bit of a project player and I think he's adapted far quicker than anyone expected given his lack of experience in top European leagues. More broadly speaking, probably how much Ipswich have kind of attacked it and kind of gone for scoring goals and that links in with what I've just said about Gary O 'Neill's kind of bullish mindset and And, you know, finishing the game with loads of attacking players on the field with 10 men at Everton feeds into that. Yeah, I wasn't quite sure how Gary Neal was going to approach this season.

31:44Stuart Watson:When you look back at his Wolves days and he's playing back three slash back five. And he's talked about being, you know, when we go to Man City, we're going to maybe be adaptable and pragmatic. I thought, you know, there was potential for them to go down the whole route this season in terms of set up. But it's not been that. They're going for it. And this looks like there's plenty of goals in this team. So I guess that's been a surprise.

32:07Mark Heath:Yeah, it really does, doesn't it? In terms of how threatening they've looked and how competitive they've looked. It's been tremendous so far. Dan, biggest surprise for you, I'd imagine, obviously would be appearing on this podcast. You probably didn't have that on your bingo board. And now you're sitting virtually, at least, next to your football hero, Stuart Watson. Big moment for you. But if you had to say a second biggest surprise, what would it be? I was going to say Emerson as well for the individual surprise so I guess again maybe take a slightly negative stance on this and say from a negative standpoint I'm a little bit disappointed with NC so far I thought he would kind of kick on a little bit more and not I mean I haven't seen every single game end to end but from what I've seen he does make the wrong choices a little too often for my liking comes across obviously generally his defensive work is excellent I'd admit as well so that's also a surprise but i'd say probably him not i was expecting him to kind of be our probably our best attack in the first five games of the season and actually it's ended up being emerson with leaf being kind of a hybrid so so yeah i'd probably say him like it aj got any thoughts on on dan's thoughts on on cso and also uh share your biggest surprise yeah i can certainly see that and agree with it it felt like maybe set the bar very high in the opposite direction because when Ntisou came in, it was a lot of, wow, what a signing, but.

33:32And we'd seen a lot of those traits in the loan spell he had, and we thought, you look, his pressing is off the ball work, the selfless assist that he gets for Emerson in that Sunderland game. And it hasn't quite hit the same height since then, when you look at United, for example, the Palace game, and then, of course, probably one of the big examples, maybe the biggest example, Everton too many times where he was kind of making the wrong choices, shooting into bodies, things like that. So I'm hoping that we can get back to the Sunderland and CISO. But yeah, that's certainly an area I'd like to see him improve and develop.

34:12In terms of the biggest surprise, we are sat here in a Premier League season, and I know they're not all in the Premier League, but Chuba Akpom has two goals and an assist this season. who had him on the bingo card having any sort of role, any sort of involvement. We all felt that he was going to be straight on the chopping block as soon as promotion was secured and that clause was triggered. Gary O 'Neill's taken a shine to him, and now he's in the Premier League squad and he's the third-choice striker. He's scored in the Premier League. He scored at the Premier League at Old Trafford, no less.

34:44He got a goal against Arsenal. He's got an assist against Leicester. It's a pretty good start for him, for a player that we thought would be absolutely nowhere near. so that probably is the thing that surprised me the most from the season.

34:57Mark Heath:Like it. My biggest surprise so far is probably Jack Clark being as good as he has been because I think I've said on previous occasions, quite a lot actually, almost like I had a vendetta against Jack. That was never the case. I was just worried about him in terms of physicality and what the Premier League entails but he's certainly been better than I hoped and long may it continue. Rossi, how about you?

35:20Ross Halls:it's hard to um follow what you guys just done i'm just gonna have to echo a lot of what you guys that's fine you can do that or we can move on to the next one if you want if you haven't got anything else to add that no emerson is the big one i think uh you know in pre-season i think we saw sort of the raw version of the brazilian strike we saw little bits here and there and i think he's got better and better i think since you know gary o 'neill said he's a project signing but for him to start games in the Premier League and then score as well I've been really impressed by him so that's probably my surprise and I echo AJ as well many people have mentioned him as well in terms of just like they thought he was going to leave in the summer and now he's stayed and he's sort of been contributing to certain things so he's playing up front against Everton with Fleming which is great so yeah a lot of surprises a lot of positivity but yeah we can segue on to the next question which, yeah, I think...

36:15Ross Halls:Well, the next question, before we go,

36:17Mark Heath:I want to highlight that excellent bit of Suffolk speak there, Contributing. That was outstanding. Great work, Ross. Biggest concern? We are obviously generally, we try and make this a positive podcast, unless it's after losing to Liverpool. What would be your biggest concern? Because there are, I mean, let's be honest, there are concerns that we've seen so far. What would be your biggest one?

36:42Ross Halls:to me yeah to you yeah yeah yeah um in a way it was actually sort of goes with um the surprise in terms of rotation from gary neil early doors with the goalkeeping situation i was not expecting him to do that so early um and that is my concern i think i'm pleased he hasn't waited just like McKenna did with Muric, but five games in, four games in prior to the seven game, I was a bit like, oh, you've got to keep your sign happy. Defensively, I think in the Premier League, you've got to make sure that is your bread and butter in terms of you want that, the relationship there, partnerships and everything.

37:24Ross Halls:So I think that's my main concern is, is he going to chop and change it too many times? If Walton has a few players, is he going to bring in Alex Palmer or is he going to bring Schoen back in? So yeah, that's my main one.

37:40Mark Heath:Okay. We're going to talk about the keepers thing as one of the next points in depth. I think that's a really good talking point to get into. Biggest concern then, Dan, mine would be, and I don't know what you think about this, would be the defence. I've said it before, I'm slightly concerned that they've got all these shiny new, exciting attacking players and there's still quite a lot of players in defence that were here in the last Premier League season and you could argue they've been played out of position. They tend to have conceded early goals. Liverpool, I want to keep harping on about it.

38:14Mark Heath:And one fears that maybe for everything that they're going to be able to do attacking-wise, the foundations, the defence, may be something that lets them down this season. How do you feel about that? Would you agree? And if not, what is your biggest concern? I think I agree with that and obviously the key is defence for me I think attacking me look pretty good defence I'm saying defence and that includes the goalkeeper as well which we'll come on to later but yeah so defence and concealing early goals I think you just said that as well that's something that we need to kind of stop that because that puts us on the back foot especially with teams we're going to be up against who are going to control possession it's going to be difficult to kind of get a goal We did that against Crystal Palace, some of them probably because of the red card.

39:03So, yeah, I think concealing early goals and defensively in general, we need to kind of show up who's playing in defence and where. I'm not sure whether Dara Shea should be left centre-back or right centre-back, and that's still up in the air at the moment. Attara looked very good at Everton. I'm quite interested to see how he gets on, assuming he'll start against Fulham. He looks very promising. And also, I still think Daniel Furlong has got a part to play. I've never had a every time I've seen him play he's always going to he always gets 7 or 8 out of 10 always consistent I feel and Gary O 'Neill name checked him recently in a pre-match conference I wonder if he's got still a part to play and maybe he could help shore things up a little bit he's not probably going to be as explosive as Tarris but at least he will make sure the defence is solid especially maybe if we're playing against a team like Manchester City coming up

39:55Mark Heath:so yeah Okay. We're going to talk about the defence in a minute as well. So old reliable Darnell Furlong perhaps has a part to play. Let's ask our own old reliable Stuart Watson what your biggest concern is thus far, Stu.

40:07Stuart Watson:Less of the old, thank you. I enjoyed your hand over to Ross a minute ago, to me, to you. It was very Chuckle Brothers. Was it? Yeah, I don't know if anyone else clocked that. What, we're on biggest concern? Biggest concern. Yeah, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? We talked about, you know, we're happy that it looks like a team with goals in it and a goal threat in it. The flip side of it is I think only Chelsea have conceded more goals in the league so far. The makeup of the back four, we're still not quite sure what that configuration is going to be. The goalkeeper situation never fills you with confidence when you're getting into a potential choppy, changey goalkeeper scenario.

40:52Stuart Watson:Mario. So I can't look beyond that at the moment.

41:01Stuart Watson:Yeah, I think to be successful over the course of a long season, you do need that solid foundations in place. I think if they can get to a situation where there's a solid base and they can score goals on the counter-attack, they'll be able to nick enough results along the way. But I don't know if that solid base is quite in place at the moment. That's the concern.

41:24Mark Heath:Ajay, is it similar from you in terms of concern? Have you got any others you want to throw into the concern pot? Yeah, I mean, all the points he mentioned on defence and goalkeepers and stuff like that. I'll give you a left-field one. One of my concerns, Hull City. Hull City are one of my concerns because it felt early doors, and we've said this a bit, that if Ipswich are going to stay in the division, most likely they're going to have to finish above the two teams that they come up with in Coventry in Hull now commentary Stregord obviously got their first win but still look like it could be a long and hard season for them despite that Hull I mean they've just suffered their first Premier League defeat in the last round of fixtures before that some really impressive results the Chelsea one obviously stands out they have conceded and we're talking about solid base as being the core element to success they have conceded four goals that is fewer goals than Manchester City that is the same number as Arsenal and as Liverpool then you're thinking about them betting in their 400 ,000 new signings that they made on deadline day I think there's a chance they could actually improve so are you looking at two other teams that you're having to finish above of we've gone through and we've listed the ones we think could be down there but yeah, it could be a bit of a scrap and Hull are taking this a lot more seriously and are doing a lot better than I thought they would do in pre-season Well, I mentioned a stat pre-season didn't I?

42:50Mark Heath:which suggested that if any of the newly promoted sides could get eight points from their first five games, the 34-year history of the Premier League suggests they are safe. So Hull are safe, officially. They're going to be taken out of the relegation pot for town to finish ahead of, which is a bit of a blow, early doors. Friends, let's move into positional talking points because there is one really juicy one I want to get into, which, of course, is the goalkeeping situation. now in terms of biggest surprises I would say I was fairly staggered um that Sherpin was benched last time out now I know Gary come out and said well no decision's been made but it feels like it has I mean it feels fairly significant to bench your 8.5 million giant summer signing just four games in um just for the impact it's going to have on him and and the statement it sends out now certainly I was on the record over the summer saying I had absolutely no problem with Christian Walton being the starting goalkeeper this season.

43:47Mark Heath:I think he deserved it, given what he did last season. So I'm not particularly bothered about the decision itself in terms of it being the wrong decision, but I am staggered that it's been made. But I thought in this forum, I'd want to know, I'm going to start with you, Dan. If you were Gary O 'Neill, who would you be starting in goal and why? And it doesn't just have to be Walton or Sherpen. You've got Palmer there, you're getting Van Uvalen back, all that kind of stuff. Who would you be starting in goal? Walton I think I can only assume the reason he didn't start the season and maybe they weren't looking for two goalkeepers was because Walton carried an injury and then Palmer also was carrying an injury of some kind I'm not entirely sure what it was so I think I would say Christian Walton based on last season based on the fact that when he played in the Premier League previously he looked pretty good I think he kept, is it the only clean sheet in the whole one of the only clean sheets the whole season against Chelsea when he was playing.

44:46So, yeah, I've not been that impressed with Sherpen so far in terms of some of the mistakes that has been made by him and some of his shot-stopping as well, like, for instance, against Liverpool. Both goals, I feel like Walton would have saved at least one of them. So, I would stick with Walton for now, maybe see how he gets on it. I don't necessarily think it is completely set in stone. maybe if Warren doesn't play brilliantly over the next month or so maybe then Sherpen comes back in but I would expect him to kind of keep, hold his own keep his, get the possession of first choice goalkeeper and keep it for the remainder of the season unless he gets injured again of course and then Palmer, I suspect he's going to be leaving in January anyway and Van Ovelen, I don't think he's playing much for Valencia at the moment so there might be a recall option in January but either way, I think he's probably a bit young.

45:41I mean, I've been impressed with his kicking when I saw him play one of the pre-season games, but I haven't seen enough of him to kind of, and I'm sure Gary hasn't either, to kind of put him in the firing line in a Premier League season. It's obviously important that we stay up.

45:53Mark Heath:Yeah, I was being slightly facetious there when I suggested he bring him over and home. I don't think that's going to happen. Stu, have I overplayed it there? Because it felt fairly seismic to me that dropping Sherpen so early on. It's quite a big statement. what have you made of that and who would you be starting in goal and why?

46:11Stuart Watson:Yeah, it was certainly a surprise I think we said in the previous pod I don't know if history comes into it with Aramuric and Ipswich stuck with him stuck with him and it was turn of the year before Walton got his chance for the aforementioned Chelsea game and did well and then injury obviously struck then it's a shorter season the Premier League you know we're five games in blink and you'll be ten games and a quarter of the way into the season there is no room for kind of sentiment and suck it and see and hopefully this will turn you've got to be bold with your decision making and Gary O 'Neill has been that with quite a few decisions so far a change of goalkeeper always feels like the biggest call of all to make it's not like other positions where you can kind of chop and change and see how it goes players don't come off the bench um had sherpen been i don't think sherpen had got off to a good start and we're talking four games in the league but his two games in pre-season were pretty jittery as well and there was we saw some of the hallmarks of certainly that it's these dashes off the line are the bits that concern me the most with with him um you know gary o 'neill said oh i don't think he had anything to do with the five goals at united well the emboemo one was you know he's off his line and got chipped for that.

47:32Stuart Watson:The two Liverpool goals, the one he gets beaten is near post. I'm not, it can happen. It was well struck. It was the other one where he was just positionally all over the place for that goal. So we had a few examples of that. It's just timing, isn't it? It just feels whether it's too soon. But when you've got someone that we're all pretty comfortable with, the general consensus was in the summer that goalkeeper shouldn't have been high on the list of priorities. There's a lot of historical love for Christian Walton in terms of what he's done for the club. Players player of the year in the championship promotion season last year.

48:14Stuart Watson:I really don't know how this is going to play out, but it does feel like a bold early decision from the manager. And I just hope it doesn't tie him up in knots a little bit and they get in a bit of a muddle because then you change goalkeeper and it doesn't work out, where does that leave you? That's always the concern, isn't it? But I've got faith in Christian. I think he's a solid pair of hands, hopefully.

48:37Mark Heath:Yeah, we definitely don't want a flip-floppy situation to do with goalkeepers. So we're all saying, Walton, AJ, you're sitting there looking, or should be sitting there thinking, I'm pretty smug about this, because this was my hot take before the season anyway. I knew this was going to happen. But can you make a case for your countryman in terms of Sherpen? and we're all sitting here saying he shouldn't be playing. But is there an argument to the contrary? Yeah, there is. I don't want to kind of give too much my hand away. I'm doing a long read piece that will be out looking at kind of both sides of this that will go tomorrow morning.

49:10So you can have a little look at that. But there certainly are arguments you can make for it. Why was he signed? Because he's tall. That is a really big factor. And when it comes to Premier League set pieces and claiming crosses and that kind of thing, ultimately he has the advantage there. His stats are not like among the top of the top, but certainly paint a fairly good picture, even of his shot stopping and some of the shots that he's had to face and some of the saves that he's made. There's an interesting comparison I've drawn actually with another Premier League goalkeeper. Again, I'll leave that for tomorrow, but one who's also joined in the summer and has had actually quite a lot of praise.

49:50When you look at the shot stopping numbers, they're very similar to Kyl Sherpens. So I think there certainly is an argument, and there is definitely an argument that this is a pretty early decision to make. It feels for me that Walton now has a big proving point, I'd say, assuming that he's going to come back in and start against Fulham. We'll see how things go between now and I'd imagine the next international break. And if it doesn't go well, we'll all be sat there having the same conversation again in November. But yeah, there certainly are arguments in favour of Kiel Sherpin. It's just obviously all the things that stick in our mind.

50:26And that's not just some of the saves, but also easily could have gifted a couple of goals to Palace, for example, at Selhurst Park, things like that. And his last appearance was that what stuck in Gary O 'Neill's mind when he made that decision. I don't know. But yeah, I've had a little look at both sides of those and what I think is going to happen going forward, which will be out tomorrow morning.

50:47Mark Heath:Too tall, isn't it? That's the problem. Six foot nine, too tall for a goalkeeper. One of the tallest people ever. he's gone above the optimal zone for a goalkeeper which is as we've already established is 6 '6 how tall is Walton just out of interest he's about 6 '5 6 '6 isn't he he's in that kind of bracket he's not quite the kill Sherpin Christian Walton is 6 '5 so again still has that element to him but is he as kind of is he as imposing is he as kind of like physically I almost think there's a little bit of difference in the way that they're built as goalkeepers he's not clearly he's not as big but one of the strengths of his game is the way he commands the area isn't it yeah absolutely but can he handle that in the same way as Sherpin I don't know that's maybe the kind of argument to make whereas any defender that kind of comes up against Sherpin from an aerial battle in a set in theory kill Sherpin should be the man to win that battle because he is taller than all of them he's taller than every player to ever have played in the Premier League that's fact yeah good let's move on Rossi, how about you?

51:53Mark Heath:Have you got any thoughts on this? We're all saying Walton. AJ's made a semi-case there for Sherpen. From my point of view, my concern is the impact that has on Kel Sherpen's psyche as someone who's obviously been brought in. He started the season. He's made a couple of errors and four games in, he's benched. And for me, if I'm sitting there, I'm thinking, well, the manager doesn't fancy me then, clearly. I'm in trouble here. Who would you be playing?

52:20Ross Halls:At the start of the season, or even in summer, I was a bit surprised we signed two new goalkeepers, really. I was like, do we really need? I think Walton last time in the Premier League did okay. Once again, just timing is all right. His timing for him is just so bad. He just gets injured, you know, did really well in League One, you know, part of that League One promotion team, gets injured on the opening sort of day. Vaz comes in, does unbelievable. ball. Then, of course, get promoted to the Premier League. That as goes, doesn't obviously sign a contract. And then, yeah, Mouric gets signed, might want to call.

52:57Ross Halls:Walton comes in, plays for opening day against Liverpool. We know the rest of the story. I won't rehash all that. But I think he's done so well and been called upon. So I was a bit surprised. Of course, he gets another injury in pre-season and it's like, oh, not again, Christian. He's come back in and he's done a job. But I I think he's a solid keeper. I know he's got his doubters and a few people think he's not good enough, but I think for what we need him to do, I think he's solid enough. He keeps improving. He's still someone who had to sort of bide his time in terms of men's football. He had a few loans away from Brighton and then he found his home at Itchwich and I think he's done such a great job.

53:35Ross Halls:So I do feel sorry for Cole Sherpin, but for me, I always wanted Walton to start the season and of course he couldn't because he was injured. So yeah, it's just, I can't believe we're doing this again, discussing goalkeeping. Because even last year, we were having that discussion, weren't we? Because we had Alex Palmer starting, he gets injured, Walton comes in. And when Walton had a few shaky moments, we thought, oh, let's bring Alex Palmer back in. So I feel like it's just DJI, we're just going back again, just talking about goalkeepers. So, yeah, it's just part and parcel. It's just town. Under McKenna, we had it.

54:07Ross Halls:Now under Gary O 'Neill. So, yeah. It does seem to be a theme, doesn't it?

54:11Mark Heath:It has been a kind of regular theme over the past few seasons, a bit of a goalkeeper kerfuffle. Plenty of your thoughts, by the way, Ross. I read your excellent piece over the weekend, which is the ex-town styles without homes. And poor old Vaz, Ladke, since being the promotion hero at town, went to Burnley. I think he's only played five times, doesn't he? Now he hasn't got a club. You know, life comes at you fast. Classic example.

54:34Ross Halls:Pretty much, yeah. But goalkeeper, once again, there's only one player I can play in that position. So the life of a goalkeeper, especially a backup and a fair choice, Shout out to Kane, by the way. I saw he was back at his boyhood club in Waller Dam. He was in the away... Oh, not in the away. In the home end, he was greeted by the fans because it isn't such a break. I'm sure it's an opportunity for him to go there and say goodbye finally after leaving. But yeah, he hasn't played for Valencia yet, which is not a great loan when he's just being on the bench. But it's difficult when you've got a proper big international in front of him.

55:11Ross Halls:So, yeah, that's an interesting loan so far.

55:15Mark Heath:Yeah, all adds it into that kind of, as we say, kind of odd recruitment strategy around goalkeepers. Right then, the other one I want to talk about, which I think is worth talking about, Dan's already touched on this, is the back four, which has been chopped and changed already. We saw the season starting with Dara at right back, which I was very much not a fan of. Last time I was moved back inside, which I was a fan of, but it gave me pause for thought when he was playing at left-sided centre-back. So I'm going to ask you, Dan, Again, if you were Gary O 'Neal, assuming he's going to play a back four, maybe you don't want to play a back four, who would be your starting defence and why?

55:50Yeah, I think probably consensus is going to be across the board here, really. But Leif Davis at left back, evidently. Atara at right back, I'd like to give him a go there, so he gets on with potential coming on here and there, maybe for a bespoke game plan, especially against some of the tougher teams. And then the centre-backs, Dara O'Shea and Issa Diop. In terms of what side they go on, I'm not really sure. I think I'd probably prefer to play Dara on the right because he's our captain. But, I mean, if Gary has a view of kind of because East has been playing there for the beginning of the season, to leave him as he is there, I'm also OK with that.

56:28Jake agrees, obviously, he's on the bench. He's been a little bit disappointing so far in terms of some of his positioning, especially in the Liverpool game. so that would be my back four

56:41Mark Heath:Steve what have you made of the switch moving Dara back inside but then playing him on the left logic for me suggests that you should play your captain where he's best where he wants to play clearly with Diop playing there's an argument there's no left footer in there is that an issue for you and are there any other kind of X factor or other players we may be forgetting in this conversation in terms of who could come in

57:05Stuart Watson:no I don't think so because there is no other left back in the squad so it's just as well that Leafs ultra robust and has started the season well Cedric Kipre as much as I think physically he's suited to the Premier League I just think one in three games there's a horrendous mistake in him and mistakes get punished at this level so So Greaves was ahead of him for me and as someone that deserves more time put into him because he's got a higher ceiling. But no, I again agree with what Dan has said there that I think you want square pegs in square holes. And Watara looks like he's got that athleticism required for this level.

57:54Stuart Watson:That was the big conversation about lessons learned from the Premier League last time, the sheer athleticism and physicality of the division. I've spoken to a few people kind of behind the scenes and they're like, he's training really well. He's impressing people. And it felt from those conversations, it was a matter of time before he kind of got in and had a run. Wasn't sold on him at left back in the cup games, but it looked a bit more suited to it and was probably one of the better players in the team up at Everton. And then, I don't know, the two centre-halves debate. We get fixated, don't we, on two right-footers.

58:31Stuart Watson:You'd never... I don't know. We don't have it when you get two left-footers in there. It rarely happens, I guess. But Dara, I think, would certainly prefer to play left-centre half than he would do it right-back, put it that way. He certainly sees himself more as a centre-half. So, yeah, I think, you know, having tried it at Everton, I think we're going to certainly see more of it. I'm pretty certain that that's the back four that we're going to see against Fulham after this international break. I just hope they kind of settle because, you know, the best teams in any division tend to have a pretty solid back five, don't they?

59:10Stuart Watson:You can name that back five more often than not. Big problem in the Premier League last time under Kieran McKenna was that there was, and a lot of this was enforced through injuries, but they never really got a settled team or certainly any kind of settled relationships on the pitch and weren't able to kind of build any chemistry. I hope that's not an issue this time around, certainly at the back.

59:33Mark Heath:Ross, have you got anything to add to this debate, this conversation? I know you generally don't really care who plays and where they play, but have you got anything that you would like to say about the back four?

59:44Ross Halls:I just want it to be set in stone. I don't want to go in. I think you can't rotate defence. I think that's once again that was another frustration of mine with McKenna it did change it a lot it did chop and change so I know you can't help it with suspensions injuries illnesses I always bring that up don't know why why are you always banging on

1:00:04Mark Heath:about illnesses

1:00:04Ross Halls:Leaf gets ill a lot you know I have to admit the amount of times obviously you know he's not in the squad because he's ill

1:00:12Mark Heath:do you know what it is by the way because these guys are like elite fitness people and the fitter you are the worse your immune system is generally you're so you get to a point where you are you are so fit you're constantly getting um getting sickness because your immune system is is rather thrashed by all the training you're doing that by the way that's that's what's happening there but anyway crack on mate yeah um so no i just want

1:00:34Ross Halls:it set in stone um and yeah i'd like to see with tara right back um diop oshay davis keep that week in week out until there's injuries and illnesses so yeah we're all working on an

1:00:47Stuart Watson:assumption it's going to be a back four now for the foreseeable aren't we I mean we had a big debate about wing backs going into the season um you never know I think the way he's wanting the team to score goals and the way certain attacking players fit into it I can't see that changing anytime soon but who knows it might take one injury at the top end of the pitch it might take one heavy beating um for them to switch to something and sometimes in football you stumble across something that works for you. And maybe that will happen. It might be a game where Emerson and Fleming suddenly play together and it works or whatever.

1:01:25Stuart Watson:Or they go to wing-backs. Wattaro looks quite wing-backy in terms of the way he plays. Leaf is obviously someone well-suited, sort of getting up and down the left-hand side. Maybe that allows them to get an extra midfielder in there, like Florentino sitting behind Lukic and Palacios to give it a more solid look. I still don't think it's impossible. They land on something like that at some point, not in the instant future, but it's not impossible.

1:01:52Mark Heath:Yeah, well, that was going to be my question to AJ by way of moving this on, AJ, because we're talking about back fours. And of course, you think they should be playing a back three. This is all redundant. This is a nonsense conversation. Yeah, well, I felt that way because I think it suited a lot of the personnel that Ipswich had. I thought that obviously some of Gary Neal's biggest success in that season where he really got Wolves ticking before it all went horribly wrong, was with a back five there. It suited a lot of what I think a newly promoted team has to do in the Premier League, which is sit deep, get height behind the ball, bodies behind the ball when you're soaking up pressure.

1:02:30And then when you get into that position where you force the opponents out wide, force them to cross in, you've got your three towering centre-backs, you can get it up the pitch quickly, you've got players then, let's say, if it had that system and it was a, let's say, 3-4-2-1. You'd then have Davis and Wattara, for example, as the wing-backs who are able to get up quickly. You'd then have Fatou and Nciso kind of flanking the striker either side or Maida in that position. I just think of that little thought that would have been very suitable. Does it align with what Gary O 'Neal wants? I'm not too sure, at least from this group and this kind of iteration of the Premier League and all of those different factors.

1:03:07Yeah, not too sure. I think he will stick with the 4-2-3-1. Just to add on to the point, I fully agree. It should be the back line that we've all said. And I think that O'Shea should play on the right and Diop should play on the left. I don't like O'Shea on the left side of that partnership. And I do think it will be a back four going forward. And we've spoken, O 'Neill mentioned, it might not be the same at Man City. I think he will go to Man City and play a back four. I do. And I think it would take a Daniel Farker at Leeds-esque situation of Ipswich are under pressure and maybe have had some poor results and are at risk of relegation for a change like that to happen.

1:03:50But as things stand, we're all feeling positive and everything's going all right with the back four. I don't think that's going to change. And to be fair, but at the moment, I don't see the need to. So I keep going with what we've got.

1:04:01Mark Heath:OK, good stuff. Right. we can't have you on this podcast Dan without doing something which is a bit of a trademark of KOA I think first actually created, brought up introduced by our old friend Hutchie who was a massive fan of the hot take which I think he got from American media but anyway we've adopted it, we like hot takes here on KOA and I want one from you Dan that's so hot it hurts to look at um have you got have you got the hottest of hot takes you can drop on us right now well this can be tongue-in-cheek but i think ips is your finish above man city this season here we go i like it that's an excellent one what do we make of this boys i mean this is a fascinating thing isn't it i know they'll probably appeal it and we'll still be talking about 10 years time um but there's also very interesting isn't it what what could happen here because in theory that they are open to a massive massive punishment and obviously that's the way you're going with it Dan yeah yeah I think well I mean the thing is they might appear or so this is a kind of a tongue-in-cheek it might not even happen this season it could be next season but assuming it happens this season then I mean they're gonna get a huge points deduction I think from what I can gather so far so we'd expect to finish above them unless you really have a poor rest of the season um I mean in all seriousness probably my hot take would have been before that news was um that we'd stay outside the relegation zone all season.

1:05:28So we wouldn't be inside the relegation zone at all. That is pretty hot as well. Yeah.

1:05:34Mark Heath:Feeling confident. I think that might be my favourite hot take in K-Way history, actually. Ipswich Town to finish above Man City in the Premier League. We've never had anyone quite that smoking. And indeed, if you'd have said that before the season kicked off, you'd have been carted off to the local hospital, secure facility, I'd say. Stu, have you got a hot take that can rival Town finishing above Man City?

1:05:54Stuart Watson:No, I don't think so. I guess maybe I'll double down on the hot take going into the season. There'll come a point where they will switch formations, and I said it might come after a heavy beating. Maybe that's Man City away. We just mentioned Man City, all the noise around this. God knows what the situation is going to be. When we get to that on, where is it, October 17th, who knows? that hopefully they'll really attack this Fulham game, which does feel significant. We've just talked about maybe Hull are going to be good enough to stay up. Maybe Ipswich are going to need a couple of teams from the division last year to stay up.

1:06:34Stuart Watson:Fulham look very much in that category on evidence so far. It feels like a big game. Hopefully they can attack it. Hopefully they can win it. Then do they go to Man City a little overconfident and think, no, we'll stick with the back four? and then you go, oh yeah, Man City are quite good after all of that. Who knows where that will kind of lead them afterwards. Yeah, I'll stick with that one. I still think they'll end up landing on a back three at some point.

1:07:01Mark Heath:Okay, that would please AJ as well. Rossi, have you got a smoking hot, a fiery hot take?

1:07:09Ross Halls:Probably not a hot take as such, but I bet you there'll be another change in goal. Yeah?

1:07:16Mark Heath:Change the goal. Kind of in short order or somewhere down the line.

1:07:21Ross Halls:Maybe somewhere down the line. I don't know. I just, yeah, Sherpen will go back in.

1:07:25Mark Heath:I just imagine.

1:07:26Ross Halls:We'd all be like, what? Yeah. Yeah, I'd be thinking, Gary, what are you doing? What are you doing, mate? So, yeah, maybe that will happen again, which I don't want to happen. But, yeah, I think he may, you know, chuck Sherpen back in. Maybe he wants to keep the camp all happy, but sometimes you can't keep your one happy.

1:07:47Stuart Watson:Ross, is that because Walton hasn't played very well or are you just foreseeing an injury or something? How does that look? An injury, okay.

1:07:56Mark Heath:Walton's history does suggest that that's what happens when he gets a chance. He ruptures an internal organ, putting his boots on, that kind of thing. AJ, your hot take has already come to fruition. Again, you're obviously smug about it, so we need a new one from you. To finish the hot take section, have you got a new one? This isn't going to be as smoking hot now. Now, it was one I was going to do over the summer, actually, and then pivoted to the goalkeeper switch. But if you'd said this again to someone at the end of last season, I think you would have been carted off to a mental institution.

1:08:26So, yeah, definitely then. And maybe it is a bit of a surprise now. Azor Matasiba will leave Upswich Town in January. What? I think on loan. But I think he will leave Upswich Town in January because the midfield batter is looking stacked. And you've got now a very solid pairing that are nailing down their positions and their minutes. You've got Florentino Luis, who feels like he's at the moment probably ahead in the pecking order. You've got Marcelino Nunez, who then has the different kind of profile. Where does Azul Matasiwa fit in? And the one thing that he needs is these kind of match minutes to build up his fitness again.

1:09:01And I just don't see where he's getting in at the moment. To be honest, I don't see where he's getting into the squad. There was a reason why he was fit to kind of come back. Gary O 'Neill said, yeah, he's ready, but they couldn't find the opportunity to get him back in. He's come back and played for the 21s. but assuming that those midfielders stay fit and maybe that's a doubt with with palasios and his record uh that could all change but um i'll go with it and as all matter see where goes out to try and rebuild his fitness somewhere else in january away from it's which town i like it i'm gonna say where'd you be sending him um i i don't think he'd go to the championship i think it would end up back abroad i think he could end up going somewhere like maybe back to france or maybe like an Italian loan or something like that, but somewhere where he's going to get that experience of playing again at the top level against these kind of top, top players to get him ready, hopefully then maybe to be reintegrated.

1:09:51But let's see. But it is a weird kind of situation for him where there's been so many players added in this position and then he's had this injury that's kept him out for such a long period of time. I've got a new hot take.

1:10:03Stuart Watson:It's just come to me the hottest. Ipswich Town will sell more players than they buy in January.

1:10:10Mark Heath:That's pretty smoking as well. and you're obviously not including us all in that but that's inspired

1:10:15Stuart Watson:yeah exits there'll be more exits than in January interesting

1:10:21Mark Heath:we've got a few months before we get to January we can't sign more Paz surely

1:10:25Ross Halls:we've got to get rid of these Paz more

1:10:28Mark Heath:good hot takes boys I think Dan's smoking hot Man City hot take there takes the biscuit but it did inspire some other good hot takes so well played all round final thing I want to talk about and it's not really a town specific thing it's more of a football in general thing because I think this is going to become a talking point at some point, if it's not already. Our new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, self-styled man of the people, has been talking about potentially reviewing the ban on drinking in the stands at football. And in fairness to him, at least as Prime Minister, the man of the people shtick.

1:11:00Mark Heath:We've seen it with numerous Prime Ministers where they forget which football team they support. David Cameron, I'm looking at you. I think Andy Burnham is a fairly kind of dyed-in-the-wall Everton fan. I just wondered what we thought about this, boys, because my particular thought on it is as much as it would be lovely, what's better to sit having a couple of beers watching a football game? As long as you've got a driver, obviously, like Ross, than that. But my fear is as much as, you know, 99.5 % of fans would enjoy it and behave responsibly, all it takes is for one kind of major incident to have a huge stain then upon the game.

1:11:41Mark Heath:And my other concern is that idiots throwing pints in the air in a performative kind of post-goal celebration and people getting covered in beer. And in our situation or your situation, boys, getting beer all over the laptop on a deadline, that'd be a nightmare. Dan, you are a fan, unlike the rest of us who, I mean, clearly we are football fans, but we don't pay to sit in the stands. What's your take on this? You want to have pints back in view of the pitch, I think is the terminology? I think selfishly I would as a fan. I think it's tricky. I mean, this is like a tiny violin moment, but it's difficult to have a pint at halftime when you've got to wait for your pint and then potentially go to the toilet.

1:12:25And you could obviously leave the game before halftime. But I just think it's a bit rushed. And even if you have a few pints beforehand, and it just means you can't drink pretty much the whole match. And I'm hushed to a cider and stuff. So, I mean, the only thing I would say is, yeah, it can kind of, as a minority of people, and I wonder if it should be for 99 % of the people, should that outweigh the 1 % who kind of spoil it for everyone? And that's what I'm not really sure about at the moment. I mean, in terms of kind of the throwing of drinks and things around, I mean, people could do the same with hot drinks anyway, like cup of teas and coffee and hot chocolates.

1:13:06Botherl, yeah, Botherl. I mean, that could happen anyway if we score a late winner. So I think, yeah, I personally would like to see it back again, but I can understand why from a security standpoint, from a kind of a stewarding standpoint, from a safety point of view, maybe certain areas would allow drinking and others. Maybe, I don't know how that would work, and practically speaking, but yeah, it's a difficult one, that's for sure.

1:13:33Mark Heath:One vote for then. I think I'm definitely kind of on the side of against. And I do take your point there, Dan, and I think that's probably what Berlin was saying, in that the vast majority of football fans would embrace it and behave responsibly and accordingly. But I also don't think you can overlook the fact there is a different dynamic in football crowds than you get in any other sport, really. the way that fans relate that you go to rugby for example i know she'll hate me bringing up that that sport but um you know fans there mingle freely rival fan rival fans mingle freely which is clearly you know not the dynamic you get um at football grounds so have you got any thoughts on this oh sorry dan yeah i was just gonna say from do you not think that fans knowing that it's going to come back and they're gonna they will behave themselves more so than they would have done previously do you not think that's possible like if they know that if they don't behave themselves in the ground it would just be banned again yeah absolutely yeah that would be the hope isn't it that people are grown-ups and they and they uh enjoy coming back and they behave responsibly but as i say all it will take is one yes one incident uh and suddenly we've got like a you know a pr crisis on our hands about football and bloody football fans and that kind of stuff again Stu have you got anything on this?

1:14:49Stuart Watson:Yeah I'm for it I think treat people like adults if I do think if it's allowed in other sports why should football fans all be tired with the same brush I think the game has moved on a lot since the bad old days of trouble in the stands I know it still goes on but not anywhere near to the degree that it used to we've got back to the stage where there's safe standing coming back into play. We went out to Berlin for pre-season and it was just so nice. Everyone was able to enjoy a pint or two during the game. And it felt like it, I know Ipswich fans were kind of away on a bit of a mini holiday and they were enjoying themselves and the sun was out, but it kind of raised the atmosphere.

1:15:35Stuart Watson:To my knowledge, there wasn't any trouble with it. You've just got to treat people like adults and the ones that don't. But if people wanted to get really out of it, a football match. I'm sure they're doing it anyway. They're finding a way to just get their beers in earlier before kick-off. So, yeah, I'm for it. I think you've got to treat people like adults and then police it accordingly from there, I think.

1:16:01Mark Heath:Okay, I'm losing this. Two-one down. Ross, have you got any thoughts on drinking in the stands?

1:16:08Ross Halls:I'm very 50-50 on this, really. I actually put a comment on the KLA Posse chat and there's actually a lot of people against it in the bossy chat actually, and certain things. I think the one thing I think people don't want to happen is when we do, a goal is celebrated and people then chuck, you know, we've seen that in the World Cups and in fan zones and stuff, and it is just ridiculous.

1:16:29Stuart Watson:The cost of points these days, you're not going to be chucking too many in the air, do you? No,

1:16:33Ross Halls:but if it is a last minute winner and anyone, you know, we'll be chucking things. But I think you made some good points there, boys, about people when they know that this does happen, they don't want it to be you know banned again because people are being idiots so hopefully people will go you know what we've got this opportunity to do this again um but i also think surely you can go about nine minutes without having a point you know you can just watch a game and just you know and afterwards i think someone else made a good point good old ben diaf big shout to him he said that i think a lot of the local you know pubs around the area i don't know if they they could get affected by this because some people may not go they may just go straight to the ground, have their pre-match points in the ground, and then, you know, don't really back going, because there's a lot of pre-match routines, people go to the pubs, different ones around the area, so I think there's a lot of for and against, there's pros, cons and stuff, but as Stu mentioned, you know, going to Germany in the last pre-seasons and just seeing people just having a good time with their point in the sunshine, maybe it changes in the winter, I think everyone's like, yeah, don't really care about having a point there, just more want to keep warm and having the ball rules and stuff, so, yeah.

1:17:41Stuart Watson:gets to half time I mean Dan touched upon it it's then that sort of rush of trying to get everything done in that 15 minute window if you've just got your pint at least you can then wander back to your seat with it afterwards and not have to sort of oh we've got a minute till we kick off again I've got to neck that before I get back to my seat um the the bugbear of mine is when I've when I've been in the stands where you can drink at rugby or abroad or whatever people getting up and down for the toilet every three seconds you're letting people in and out of rows that's that's

1:18:09Mark Heath:quite annoying but um no i think i'm for it okay ross i'm gonna need a yes or no from you uh because i'm hoping to set up a grand finale where aj gets to make national policy on this um so can i can i put you down as a no so it's too good excellent aj you now are in the cabinet pressure you're speaking to andy burnham man of the people he's saying i bloody love everton i'm gonna go and have a few pints when i watch him um and what are you saying to him are you saying yes andy that's good or no, Andy, that's bad. Again, I feel like I'm about as on the fence as Ross was with his. I see both sides of this.

1:18:47I also think as well, does it help, and this is almost pushing Ipswich to one way, but you are a League 1, League 2 National League club. You think about the difference in income you would get if you were able to sell pints during the game and how much that would be able to help financially. Would I be worried about drinks going everywhere yes i've seen box park i've seen those clips we talk about one percent and i know we don't mean that literally but one percent of 30 000 is 300 people and that's a lot if 300 people throw their pints up in the air during a football game then a lot of that stadium is getting soaked um who knows if there'll be people that uh ensure that it's not the the the yellow liquid in their cup is not a pint and who knows what that could lead to it's just a fair It's a fair point though, isn't it?

1:19:34We've seen this before. So I do have those concerns for sure. However, I think it is worth a trial, which I think is the one that is being discussed. So on the yes, no side, that becomes a yes.

1:19:52Mark Heath:It's passed. Drinking is back within view of the ground or of the pitch rather. AJ has passed that into law, into legislation. Just very quick, just by going around the room, boys, you pick your bevy to be watching football. What are you having? I'm going, I'm going old fashioned. If you're asking, I'm having a civilised cocktail or I watch the old footer. What about you, Dan? You said you're a cider man. Would that be your poison? Well, Aspel. Aspel is the one for me. Aspel. Bang on trend, of course. Excellent Suffolk brand. Lovely. In the sun. Stu, what are you having?

1:20:26Stuart Watson:Am I allowed? I don't know. I might be hitting as, am I not? Well, I'm in the press box. I'm talking. Well, I'm giving you permission, yeah. There might be a few typos in the report. Pretty lively. Just, yeah, pint of lager. I don't know. Is it still level head that they sell at Ipswich Town? Is that what the beer is these days? I don't know. Anyway, that wouldn't be my number one choice. But, yeah, pint of lager.

1:20:49Mark Heath:Pint of lager. But, no, you're not committing two-way lager. I'm giving you a dream scenario here.

1:20:55Stuart Watson:I'll have Moretti.

1:20:59Mark Heath:Continental. Rossi?

1:21:02Ross Halls:i love myself and a saai is that you say saai yeah that's my that's my go-to and um if that's on any tap at any pub i'm like i like this pub and i always go you boys are doing a good job so

1:21:16Mark Heath:yeah i think aj's agreeing with me are any of you familiar with the instagram account called points of beauty and it's just a picture of the best pints you've ever seen and there's so many of these like ice cold asahis in japan for like two pounds i need to get myself over there uh you you agree with that aj yeah uh a few shots of absinthe uh in the press box no i i was i was gonna agree i was gonna say asahi as well would be my choice that's the one i'm i'm uh sticking to the most at the moment i'd say i like it right then friends that brings us to the end of this podcast unless anyone else has got anything else they want to say it's been a five-man pod which we've only done once before which was koa 500 and we've had the first ever member of the koa army on the pod and probably making the best points out of all of us you probably agree certainly i think the best hot take we've ever had um anything else from anyone else friends before we uh before we take our leave and i do my shambolic outro dan have you enjoyed your appearance on koa it's been tremendous to have you yes thanks for having i hope you maybe do this again in the future with another koa member maybe maybe i haven't made it too too difficult for everyone what do you go back to now dan you obviously work from home what do you do for a living i'm a lead data analyst so i'm back in the old statistics not the xg and the xa and all that sort of stuff but just uh just the kind of general data like reporting modeling that sort of stuff um nice superb which um which town shirt i assume that's the town shirt you're wearing what vintage is it i think it's from a it's just it's the pinstripe one so it's from the black pinstripe one so i think it's from early kieran i think from memory i don't know exactly yeah it's definitely a few years old.

1:22:54Come back a little bit.

1:22:55Ross Halls:Come back a little bit, Dan. Yeah, he's got the edge here and they're going. That's the year when Paul cooked the demolition summer. And that lot. No, 2021? Two seasons? There we go.

1:23:09Mark Heath:Ross is on point. It's been great to have you, Dan. Thanks very much, as I say, for supporting what we do. Much appreciated. And if you want to be like Dan one day, because we are going to do we are going to run this again as one of the competition we try and bring in exclusive competitions obviously um you need to be a koa subscriber uh which is 3.99 a month or 39 pounds for a year we've got some excellent competitions coming up haven't we stuart watson including one that goes on thursday and another one she's coming down the track uh in november do you

1:23:38Stuart Watson:want to just briefly bring people up speed on that yeah the one that's coming up next which when did you say launches on thursday did we decide yeah it is

1:23:49Stuart Watson:there you go there we go is that reversed on the uh screen no so signed away shirt you can see signed on the one there so you can get your hands on that if you're a subscriber um do you want the other one that's coming down the track or do you want to keep that quiet for them no i want to see

1:24:07Mark Heath:it let's give people a reason to subscribe because we want subscribers kindly donated by the super

1:24:12Stuart Watson:talented Louise Cobbold who puts together the artwork for the programs has given us a print of the Daizan Maida program cover from the Liverpool game wasn't it this looks great A2 sized in a frame that would look great on your wall wouldn't it

1:24:31Mark Heath:that is so cool that and fair play to you because had I been given that I probably wouldn't have mentioned it just kept it put it up in the office somewhere it's that good AJ Grossi anything anything from you before we take our leave? No, I hope everyone's enjoying the long long international break. Well you are because you bloody love international football. Oh it's great. I wonder who Angola are playing next or something like that. It's so boring. God it's an issue. Rossi how about you?

1:25:03Ross Halls:No that's it I think. Thank you as always for tuning in. I'll let you do your outro which I always normally shambolically ruin when I do it.

1:25:13Mark Heath:Don't worry about it. Yeah, it's tricky. Just say goodbye. Thanks. That's the best way to do it. There's so many things to mention, unfortunately. Yeah, so I've already mentioned Supremant KOA. Be like Dan. Come join us on this show one day. If you could also leave us a firestorm on iTunes, that'd be great just because it helps lift the specificity-wise in the charts and feeds our fragile egos, me more than anything else. And also follow us across social media, Kings of Anger on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X slash Twitter, TikTok, and me, Rossi, and AJ are on Blue Sky as well. If you want to join us on there, if you're cool and young and relevant, because that's what Blue Sky users are.

1:25:46Mark Heath:And I think that brings us to the end. Of course, I should also mention use the code KOA10 at molecular-uk.com for all that excellent car cleaning products. Friends, I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. We've talked about a lot of talking points. We've made KOA history as well. So as I say, I hope you've enjoyed it and we will speak to you. Probably not again this week because there's nothing really to talk about. There's no bloody games, is there? But we'll be back next week, building up to what is already starting to feel like quite a significant game against Fulham a week on Saturday. So have a great week and we'll speak to you next time.

1:26:45Thank you.

1:27:14Thank you.

1:27:55Ross Halls:How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step one, go to chumbacasino.com. Chumbacasino.com. Got it. Step two, collect your welcome bonus. Come to Papa, welcome bonus. Step three, play hundreds of casino-style games for free. That's a lot of games. All for free? Step four. Unleash your excitement. Woo-hoo! Ch-ch-ch-ch-chamba! Chamba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the Chamba life. Visit chambacasino.com. No purchase necessary. VGW group void. We're prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions apply.

1:28:27Stuart Watson:At QVC, shopping is more than just checking out. It's discovering something new every day. Start with today's special value. Then, explore exciting finds across the brands and categories you love. From beauty and fashion to home, culinary, and outdoor living. Shop now at QVC.com.